It can be even more difficult if you are like Ellis Wyms, who grew up in Indianola, Mississippi, a city in which 30 percent of the population sits at or below the poverty line and median household income is only $26,479.

But, thanks to the game of football, Wyms was able to earn a scholarship to Mississippi State, where he would go on to rack up 120 tackles before being drafted in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

An eight-year NFL veteran with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, and Vikings, Wyms won a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2003.

Eight years removed from professional football, Wyms is now tackling another project that he’s equally passionate about: empowering youth through computer science.